# LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. # 

I *ty. .rMo.as I 

^UNITEDISTATES OF AMERICA.^ 



DIOMEDE 



THE ILIAD OF HOMER 



WILLIAM R. SMITH 






NEW YORK: 




D. 


APPLE TON & 

90, 92 & 94 Grand Street. 


C 0., 


L OND ON : 16 Little Britain Stbeet. 




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Entered according to an Act of Congress in the year 1S69, 

By D. Appleton & Co., 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the 
Southern District of New York. 



NOTE PRELIMINARY. 



Diomede, the Poem herewith presented, is a translation of Homer's 
5th Iliad, and takes its name from the chief hero of that particular 
book. The book contains nearly all the elements of a complete 
narrative poem, and was, in ancient times, sung separately; as was, 
indeed, nearly all the actions of the Iliad : for it was not until the 
days of Lycurgus, that any effort was made to collect and digest the 
rhapsodies (as the detached parts were called) j and not until the 
days of Pisistratus that the digest was completed into legitimate 
singleness. 

It would be interesting to recall, in detail, the manner in which 
these glorious poems were reclaimed and consolidated from fugitive 
fragments; but that task must be postponed for the present ; while 
I shall tax the reader with 

A Brief Account of some of Homer's English Translators. 

In 1581 ten books of the Iliad were translated out of the French, 
by Arthur Hall. This is the first, and is done into the Alexandrian 
verse of Sternhold. I see nowhere any expression of its merits. 

G-eorge Chapman, in 1598, translated seven books of the Iliad 
into English verse. This attracted much attention, and was soon 
followed by the whole Iliad done by the same author. Its versifica- 
tion is peculiar, long, and sometimes irregular lines rhyming, full of 
sonorousness and grandeur ; but bombastical, quaint, conceited and 
sometimes whimsical. It nevertheless afforded the English world a 
good look into that marvelous store-house of beauty and sublimity. 
Pope referred to this work as one which " Homer might have written 
in his youth before he arrived at the age of discretion/' a very happy 
illustration, and conveying to the translator an extravagant compli- 



i V NOTE PRELIMINAR T. 

ment. Chapman is still and deservedly a great favorite with many 
readers of Homer. 

John Ogilby, in 1650, translated the Iliad into English heroics ; 
having learned Greek at the age of fifty-four years ! The versifica- 
tion is clumsy and rugged, but generally accurate as to meaning ; and 
sometimes rising into excellence. This translation is said to have 
been a great favorite with Pope when at school. 

Thomas Hobbes translated the Iliad, in 1677, in alternate rhyme. 
The critics of the day place it below mediocrity. 

We now approach that period, when the greatest wits and poets in 
England felt an ambition to try their hands- on Homer. Dryden 
translated the first book, and the " Parting of Hector and Andro- 
mache " from the .sixth book. Pope acknowledged his excellence. Sir 
John Denham translated " Sarpedon's speech to G-laucus." Later, 
Congreve, to whom Pope dedicated his translation of the Iliad, 
tried his hand on " Priam's lamentation and petition to Achilles 
for the dead body of Hector/' and " The lamentations of Hecuba, 
Andromache and Helen, over the dead body of Hector/' All these 
efforts were master-pieces in their way; and promoted the growing 
enthusiasm for Homer. Pope announced his translation ; and 
printed some specimens. 

It is said that Addison translated the first book, intending to com- 
pete with Pope ; but being too timid to risk an open conflict, he 
procured Tickel to publish and to assume the authorship. 1 The 
translation known as Tickel's is superior to Pope's as a classical pro- 
duction, and in the accuracy of thought and epithet ; but it is 
deficient in the essential elements of a successful hit ; too minutely 
pruned of the luxuriance in which Pope so audaciously rioted. It 
shows inferiority in the construction of the versification, reaching 
Pope's commonplaces, but seldom completely arousing the acutest 
sense of admiration, as Pope often does with some of his be- 



2 This story is not generally credited. 



NOTE PRELIMINARY. V 

witching verses. It might well be the work of Addison, who as a 
poet was always elegant but never great. Addison is said to have 
pronounced it better than Pope's. It was evidently put forward as 
a rival, and is said to have given Pope great annoyance; but he soon 
swept it out of the way. 

Of all the translators of Homer, Pope achieved the most signal 
triumph. Whatever may be said as to the superiority of blank 
verse, as the medium of repeating Homer, it will be readily admitted 
that the English world was never thoroughly aroused to the marvel- 
ous beauties of Homer until the publication of Pope's fascinating 
couplet translation. It is true that blank verse affords all* the 
facilities of poetic expression, while the fancy is unfettered; but to 
translate literally is to accept the fetter. Many a Greek word 
carries along with it, in its sonorous sweep incorporate, the meaning 
of an adverb or adjective : hence the English language is inadequate 
to repeat Homer literally. All the prose translations are cold and 
lifeless. A school-boy may be delighted with Buckley's Homer; 
but it palls upon the sensitive nerves of the poet. One of the great 
offices of poetry is to captivate the illiterate : how can that be done 
by the cold chisel of prose that cuts out the eyes and whittles away 
the wings of an ancient statue ? 

That Pope falls into the bombastic way, at times, may be admitted. 
The subjects invite it; the original is not without it. But this is 
merely a rhetorical fault. When the subject is all intenseness, ex- 
citement, fury and extravagance, it is difficult to judge between well 
made fustian and the permissible hyperbole. Whoever attempts to 
produce Hector in English, without high sounding phrases, descrip- 
tive of heroic attitudes, approaching to what the world calls bombast, 
will certainly fail. There are many translators of single books who 
excel Pope in almost every particular ; in classic beauty, accuracy, 
and as reflecting the true Homeric idea. Travers, in the first and 
sixth books, may well challenge a general superiority ; but in every 
book of Pope's Iliad there are a few passages surpassing all com- 
petition. It rnay be said, at the same time, that Pope's best lines 
are interpolations ; showing at least one advantage in favor of the 



v i NOTE PBEL1MINAB T. 

heroic couplet : the striving after a corresponding termination 
sometimes brings out a splendid and perfectly appropriate thought. 

After Pope there were many translators ; but few of them of much 
note. Broome, who aided Pope by furnishing several books of the 
Odyssey, published in 1750 a translation of the tenth and eleventh 
books of the Iliad, in imitation of Milton's style. The inferiority of 
Broome's books in Pope's Odyssey is very clearly notable : he never 
rises above the level of a graceful versifier. 

Macpherson published the Iliad somewhat after the manner of 
Ossian, which is said to have been little esteemed. 

In 1789, Cowper translated the Iliad into blank verse. The book 
is pleasant reading, but not captivating. The graceful and melodious 
flow of Cowper's Task is not to be found in Cowper's Iliad. His 
failure to produce the rapture that the readers of Homer demand lies 
in his determination to be literal ; and his constant struggle to find an 
English to repeat the Greek word. 

Between Cowper and Derby the translators are numerous. In 
1809, James Morrice rendered the Iliad into blank verse. In 1834 
William Southby, who had previously translated the Georgics with 
great beauty. In 1854, W. G-. T. Barter rendered the Iliad into 
Spenserean stanza. In 1856, the Iliad was rendered into unrhymed 
English by F. W. Newman. The writer knows nothing of the 
respective merits of any of the last named works. 

Many years ago Mr. Mumford, an eminent citizen of Virginia, 
translated the Iliad into blank verse. This book has not fallen 
under the writer's inspection. It is said to be creditable to the trans- 
lator as a classical scholar, but heavy as a poem. This being the only 
serious American effort to translate the whole Iliad, would seem to 
require a more enlarged notice at my hands; and I trust that this 
note may serve to call the attention of liberal American criticism to a 
work heretofore certainly neglected. 

Lord Derby avoids all flourishes, with scholarly timidity. His 
wings grow heavy with the brow-dews of anxiety lest he should com- 
mit some fault. Exactness being his chief aim, he prunes the flow- 
ering vine too closely, so that nothing but the stem is left, sometimes 
withered and without odor. Hector is not always Hector in Lord 



NOTE PRELIMINAR T. v ii 

Derby's book : nevertheless, his translation is the best of its class ; 
executed throughout in a tone of accurate elegance, with many 
magnificent renderings ; sometimes enchanting to the most fervent 
poet, and always agreeable to the quiet scholar. 

Of my own work, I have nothing to say, except that it has not 
been lightly or hurriedly prepared. I have bestowed upon it such 
pains and labor as authorize me to invite (timidly I confess) the 
attention of scholars. I plead guilty to an occasional paraphrase ; 
but the rhyming mode of rendering Homer into English makes this 
inevitable. It will be observed that my paraphrase is more in the 
expansion than in the suppression j and in all cases the elaboration 
will be found authorized by history or fable. 



Tuskaloosa, Alabama, 
June, 1869. 



THE ARGUMENT 



Diornede is inspired by Minerva, and slays many of the Trojan 
chiefs. He is checked in his career by an arrow from the bow of 
Pandarus. He prays to his patron goddess who restores his strength, 
and exhorts him to renew the fight. She advises him to avoid a 
conflict with the gods, except Venus, and gives him power to dis- 
tinguish between them and mortals. He renews the fight with 
great havoc, when iEneas and Pandarus unite to assail him. The 
interview between these two chiefs, and the pious and prudent conduct 
of iEneas. Diomede's noble speech, when advised of his danger; 
with a description of the Olympian steeds. He kills Pandarus and 
wounds iEneas. Yenus interferes to protect and carry off iEneas; 
she is assailed and wounded by Diornede, and carried to Olympus in 
Mars' chariot. Description of the scene in Heaven; Dione's model 
speech, in which, while consoling Venus, she predicts misfortunes to 
Diornede. Phoebus carries off iEneas, who is cured by Latona. In 
the meantime Phoebus raises a phantom JEneas on the field, around 
which there rages a furious conflict. Mars returns to the battle, 
by the advice of Phoebus, and rouses the Trojans. Sarpedon's taunting 
speech to Hector, who renews the fight, aided by Apollo, who 
covers the Grecians in sudden darkness; when iEneas reappears, 
full armed. In the meantime the Ajaces with Diornede, Ulysses 
and Agamemnon arouse the Greeks. JEneas kills the Pylian twins ; 
is confronted by Menelaus and Antilochus, and retires. Hector now 
appears, with Mars and Bellona assisting; Diomede's dismay, and 
his noble speech on that occasion. The conflict between Sarpedon 
and Tlepolemus. Ulysses commits great havoc amongst the Trojans, 
which is checked by the appearance of Hector. The Greeks recoil, 
under the double fury of the Trojans and the Gods. Juno and 
Minerva prepare to aid the Greeks. Description of the celestial 
machines, and the serial voyage. Juno assumes the shape of Stentor 
and rebukes the Greeks. Minerva taunts Diornede; his noble re- 
sponse. She reinspires him; exhorts and aids him to assail Mars. 
Description of this conflict, and of Mars' ascent to Olympus. The 
book closes, with an interview between Jupiter and Mars. 

The time occupied is the portion of one day, the whole poem 
being descriptive of a part only of the first great battle. 



DIOMEDE 



Of Diomede now Pallas takes control ; 
She spreads enchantment through the hero's soul: 
The touch divine invigorates his powers; 
His heart grows big and his ambition towers 
With high resolves this day to give his name, 
Excelling all the Greeks, to deathless fame. 
She bathes her hero in celestial rays, 
And sheds around him an incessant blaze ; 
In mutual fires the radiant armor burns, 
Shield kindles helm and helm the shield in turns; 
As Sirius, dripping from old Ocean's streams 
New burnished, dazzles with his gorgeous beams, 
So Diomede, as that autumnal star, 
Flames ardent, and his soul pants high for war: 
Thus panoplied, he seeks the thickening fray 
On foot, to win the honors of the day. 

First the Darides came (their wealthy sire 
In Yulcan's temple watched the sacred fire), 
Two skillful warriors, championed cheek by cheek, 
Down bearing reckless towards the radiant Greek: 
Undaunted by th' effulgence of his face, 
And measuring calm the intervening space, 



10 DIOMEDE. [ Iliad, v. 

Fierce Phegeus, confident, dismissed his spear ; — 

Harmless it hissed upon Tydides' ear ! 

Quick Diomede then furious struck, nor failed ; 

Sheer through th' assailant's heart his lance prevailed ; 

Idseus quit the car and fled the plain, 

Leaving his brother, unprotected, slain : 

Even he had died, but Yulcan, pity-won, 

To save his priest some anguish, saved one son : 

In clouds the youth was hid from mortal eyes : 

Steeds, arms and car remained — a splendid prize. 

The Trojans saw their favorite boys despoiled 
In dire dismay; they faltered as they toiled 
But valiantly : — then Pallas said to Mars : 
" Gigantic homicide — still bent on wars ? 
Be Jove the Umpire — let us quit the field; 
To human strength let human weakness yield." 
Thus guileful (seeing Diomede's success) 
Taunting and coaxing with a maid's address, 
She lured the god to quit the field of blood, 
And loiter where Scamander rolled his flood. 

The Grecian chiefs now crowd the faltering foe ; 
Some Trojan leader falls at every blow; 
First, Hodius, prince of Halizonia's band, 
Fell by majestic Agamemnon's hand ; 
The monarch, as the chieftain turned in fear, 
Detained him steadfast with his searching spear, 
Deep fixed within the spine ; to earth he fell, 
His clanging armor ringing his death knell ! 



Iliad, v. ] DIOMEDE. 11 

The famous Cretan of unerring blade, 
Idomeneus, sent Phsestus to the shade. 
The aspiring chief from Tarne's valley came, 
By valor urged and generous thirst of fame : 
The weapon found him, as in vain he tried 
To mount his car — back fell the youth and died. 

Then royal Menelaus eager sought 
Scamandrius, whom Diana's self had taught 
The skill of archery, and how to slay 
The wildest mountain beasts that roam for prey ; 
Not his own skill, nor Dian's, now could aid 
To shield him from the Spartan's thirsty blade ; 
Fast as he fled he felt the fatal stroke ; 
The grinding steel betwixt his shoulders broke, 
Drove through the lungs and glittered on the breast, 
Dripping the life-blood on the warrior's vest : 
Thus fell the son of Strophius, in his pride, 
And midst the clanging of his armor died. 

Phereclus next, the great ship-builder's son, 
Fell by the skillful hand of Merion ; 
Pallas had taught his sire the arts that please, 
To build the ship, and how to sail the seas, 
But not to read the oracles of fate : 
He built the fleet that brought the woeful freight, 
That sailed with Paris, bringing back his joy, 
Helen, the bright calamity of Troy : 
Phereclus fled — not fleetly as do fly 
The quivered messengers of destiny ; 



12 DIOMEDE. [ Iliad, 

His hip received the searching steel, betwixt 
The bone and bladder gliding as it fixed 
Its point in front protruding ; thus he fell 
In agony, and shrieked his own death knell. 

Bold Meges next his strength in combat tries, 
And swiftly follows as Pedaeus flies, 
Antenor's son ; though born of other charms, 
Theano blessed him with a mother's arms : 
Sweet spouse, solicitous she reared the boy, 
And rearing nursed a fond maternal joy: 
But death o'erwhelms him. Meges' weapon rung, 
Broke through his neck and tore away his tongue, 
Shattered his jaws and open wedged his teeth, 
And left him biting steel and grasping death. 

Hypsenor ! not illustrious lineage, 
Nor priestly robes, nor reputation sage, 
Son of the god of old Scamander's wave, 
Could save thee from the shadows of the grave. 
Eurypylus descried the holy man 
Mixed with the crowd tumultuous as they ran : 
He with a falchion from his shoulder cleft 
The arm away, so that a stump was left; 
Sanguine it streamed upon the purple sand, 
As died the priest beside the severed hand. 

Thus fought the Grecian chiefs without dismay : 
Tydides moves tumultuous through the fray; 
Beholding, none could tell or if he seeks 
To rout the Trojans or to drive the Greeks: 



Iliad, v. ] D10MEDE. 13 

He storms as if to bring a general woe, 
And fights as if all nations were his foe : 
As from the hills the swollen torrents roar, 
Mount the high banks and o'er the valleys pour, 
Crush the opposing mole and gurgling sweep 
Bridge, cot and cotter towards the whelming deep, 
Destroy the garnered harvests of the swain, 
And bury all their labors in the main, 
While Jove in anger bids the lightnings fly 
And heaves an ocean from the lowering sky; 
So Diomede, terrific in his wrath, 
Hews through the multitude his gory path. 

Now bow-skilled Pandarus of Lycaon's line 
Illustrious, when he saw the chief so shine, 
And drive the Trojans as with power divine, 
His arrow drew, his bow elastic bent 
And aimed : — electrical the weapon went 
And struck its mark ! Tydides felt its point 
Pierce the thick mail and tear his shoulder joint 
With force terrific, while a rosy stain 
Besmeared his sleeve, and blood ran down like rain! 
Thus Pandarus: " Ye Trojans, drop your fears; 
Goad on your steeds, deep drive your dripping spurs ; 
Bear down effectual on the faltering host ; 
Our fiercest foe is struggling with his ghost ; 
Death seizes him " — (thus boasting in his joy), — 
" If me divine Apollo urged to Troy. 
Vain boasting this, for yet the well aimed dart 
Drank not the life-blood of the Grecian's heart, 



14 DIOMEDK [ Iliad, v. 

Nor curbed his soul intrepid ; he but staid 

His high career to pluck away the blade. 

Fronting the head of his high mettled steed 

Sore wounded stood and faint great Diornede, 

Calling his charioteer, with soft appeal, 

" Sweet friend, quick, pluck away this grinding steel." 

Forth by its shaft the bearded barb was drawn ; 

Blood oozing through the mail destained the lawn ; 

While reverential thus the hero prayed, 

And fervent called Minerva to his aid : 

" Daughter of Jove, if ever me before 

You aided, or solicitous of yore 

My sire in battle guided, in this hour, 

Lend me, unconquerable maid, your power : 

Strengthen me but a moment ; bring me near 

The vaunting warrior and sustain my spear : 

Give me to strike him dead whose boasts proclaim 

That the sun sets forever on my fame." 

Thus fervent he. Minerva fired his veins, 

And fleetness gave to scour the gory plains ; 

His frame with strength celestial she supplied, 

And showed herself all radiant at his side : 

" Be bold," she cried, " now let the Trojans bleed ; 

So Pallas wills, and so it is decreed ; 

Charge where thou wilt, I here thee reinspire 

With all the virtues of thy godlike sire ; 

Resume the battle, cast away thy fears, 

In thee great Tydeus now reappears, — 

His strength, his fleetness and his courage thine ; 

Go forth like him to conquer and to shine : 



Iliad, v. ] DIOMEDE. 15 

Here I remove the mist that clouds thine eyes, 
And power impart to see the deities, 
And accurate ascertain thy foeman's might, 
If mortal or Immortal wage the fight : 
Should gods assail, to fight the gods forbear : 
To win the Immortals, be the weapon, prayer : 
But should the Cyprian termagant appear, 
Despoil her charms with thy relentless spear." 

She said and vanished. He with fury burns, 
And ardent, headlong to the fight returns, 
Mad with remembrance of his recent wound ; 
As when a hungry lion with a bound 
Falls on a flock and eager makes his meal, 
Devouring fleeces, sudden feels the steel 
Sent by the shepherd penetrate his thigh ; 
Roused by the smart the monster rolls his eye 
Terrific; roars, and grinds his bloody teeth : 
The shepherd fled, he dooms the flock to death ; 
He leaps around and slaughters as he leaps, 
And leaves untasted carcasses in heaps, 
Then foaming dashes to his woods again; 
Such vengeance burns along Tydides' vein. 

Fell two great hearts before him side by side : 
Astynous felt his forceful lance and died ; 
Hypenor gentle, by his falchion fell, 
Priest of a flock that loved him passing well. 
Abas and Polyidus next he slew, 
Sons of Eurydamas, the sage, who knew 



16 DIOMEDE. [ Iliad, v. 

The art to sift from dreams or woes or joys ; — 
Ah ! did the father search his absent boys 
In mystic realms ; and did he see them slain 
In dream-land by Tydides on the plain ? 

Xanthus and Thoon (Phaenopswas their sire) 
Felt in the combat next the Grecian's ire : 
The scythe of death mowed down the daring twain ; 
How vain the father's hopes; his toils 5 how vain; 
Left desolate, to scan, through misty tears, 
The hoarded wealth of parsimonious years, — 
Wealth gathered for his sons, the gold and brass 
To riotous strangers destined now to pass : 
Alas ! poor heart, what use for boundless lands, 
Thy race extinct, thyself the last dry sands. 

Two sons of Priam, fighting side by side 
In the same chariot, met the chief and died : 
As on the browsing herd, in fleet career, 
The lion leaps and prostrate lays the steer 
And breaks the heifer's neck at one fell stroke, 
Tydides hurled the brothers both, and broke, 
Against the solid earth their threads of life ; — 
Steeds, arms and car, quick prizes of the strife. 

Anxious iEneas with attentive eye 
Before Tydides saw the Trojans fly; 
Hard pressing through the swinging crowd, he found 
Lycaon's son, for archery renowned ; 
Whom none in Troy could equal, none so well 
In Zeleia could the deathful steel impel : 



Iliad, v. ] DIOMEDE. 17 

" Where Pandarus," he cried, " thy boasted skill, 
The bow elastic and the shafts that kill ? 
Arise, and under Jove's protecting aid 
Dispatch yon glittering chieftain to the shade, 
Whose conquering arm destroys whole Trojan hosts, 
And fills the dusky plain with shivering ghosts. 
He seems inspired as with celestial rage : 
Perhaps the deities our arms engage ? 
If so, how fearful is th' impending odds ? 
Who can prevail against the frowning gods ? " 
Then Pandarus to iEneas, brazen-crowned : 
" That is no god, but Diomede renowned ; 
I know his coursers by their fleet career ; 
And flaming thus his helm and shield appear : 
Doubtless some deity provokes his ire, 
Fights where he fights and keeps his soul on fire ; 
Averts the shaft, in ambient clouds concealed, 
Or blunts the edge of death upon his shield. 
I sent an arrow with unerring aim ; 
It struck his dazzling mail and broke the flame ! 
His fate were mine and mine had been the fame, 
But for the god that guards him in the strife, 
And gave but blood when I demanded life. 
Fool that I was., to seek on foot the fray 
And leave my steeds unharnessed far away ! 
In Zeleian domes ten gilded chariots stand 
In gorgeous coverlets, with steeds at hand, 
All mine, now idle, — left against the will 
Of wise Lycaon, famed for martial skill : 
" Go, rein thy steeds," he said, " and urge the car, 
And furious plunge the purple tide of war, 
3 



18 DIOMEDE. [ Iliad, 

If you are nobly bent to build a name, 

And add a Trojan's to a Zeleian's fame; 

Whose aim is only sure when solid ground 

Sustains his foot, is only half renowned." 

So sagely urged my sire ; but youth, o'er wise 

In self credulity, neglects advice. 

I left the high-fed steeds at home, lest here 

Beleaguered, they might miss accustomed cheer. 

Grown wise, I see the sad mistake too late ; 

No longer fly these shafts on wings of fate ; 

Two chiefs, the greatest of the Grecian host, 

My arrows reached, but pierced at little cost : 

The Spartan's genuine blood but stained his vest, 

And Diomede received the stroke in jest ! 

In happier times each shaft had cut the breath ; 

This bow no longer sings the song of death. 

Ill-omened hour and deathful to my fame, 

When I, in aid of generous Hector came 

To suffering Troy, armed with a bow alone, 

And leaden arrows that but jar the bone. 

If e'er again I reach my native land, 

Behold my wife and in my mansion stand, 

Come then destruction from some lurking foe, 

If I should fail to burn the treacherous bow." 

Then mild iEneas (Yenus in his veins) : 

u Rage not, my friend ; o'erlook these dusky plains : 

This chariot mount ; united we engage 

Yon slaughtering chieftain and defy his rage : 

Let's burst upon him with terrific might : 

These steeds the good Anchises trained in fight ; 



Iliad, v. ] DIOMEDE. 19 

Skillful alike to charge and to retreat. 
In charging, furious, in retreating, fleet. 
But should almighty Jove his gegis spread 
Protecting over fierce Tydides' head, 
Retire we then, unequal. Take the scourge 
And reins adjusted; thou the chariot urge 
While I encounter battle ; if you will, 
Be mine to guide and yours the arm to kill." 

Pandarus, anxious for another stroke 
Revengeful, to iEneas dauntless spoke : 
" Keep thou the reins in thine accustomed hand ; 
The steeds will readier mind their chief's command : 
If from the heaven-protected we must fly, 
Thine the sure grasp and the directing eye ; 
Else, being awkwardly controlled by mine, 
Feeling a wavering hand upon the line, 
Confused and terrified amid the fray, 
They fail to bear us from the field away : 
Then Diomede might slay us both and lead 
The steeds to fleet, bright trophies of the deed. 
Keep thou the reins whilst I with naked spear 
Receive the charge and check his high career." 
Thus he, then sprang into iEneas' car, 
And side by side the chieftains plunged the war, 
Down bearing towards Tydides. Sthenelus 
Saw them approach, when to his chieftain, thus : 
" Diomede, beware, my dearest friend ; 
Two chiefs in this direction threatening bend 
Their course terrific, seemingly intent 
Thee to encounter or to circumvent ! 



20 DIOMEDE. [ Iliad, v. 

Bold Pandarus, the bow-skilled Zeleian one, 
With him iEneas, great Anchises' son, 
Of Venus born : retire we from the strife, 
Too great advantage their's, too dear thy life ! " 
To him, with gathering brows and lips of scorn, 
Great Diomede exclaimed : " I was not born 
To fly from dangers : know, death-chilling fear 
Abides not in me : I will meet them here : 
Not in my chariot, but on foot I stand 
To meet those threatening warriors, hand to hand. 
My strength restored, I vindicate my birth ; 
Or one or both shall come to bite the earth. 
Those winged steeds shall never back convey 
The two — but one must perish in the fray. 
Now hear attentive and obedient heed : 
Should Pallas grant my arm the glorious deed 
To slay them both, leave thou my coursers tied, 
And seize at once the steeds yon warriors guide ; 
Storm-limbed, and sprung of the Olympian breed 
That bartering Jove exchanged for Ganymede, 
Unrivaled they in fleetness, strength and grace ; 
Laomedon alone possessed the race ; — 
Anchises to the royal stables led 
Six mares clandestine and six coursers bred ; 
Of these, iEneas drives yon glorious span, — 
Our prize, if Pallas but approve the plan." 

Meantime the chiefs approached ; the Zeleian, proud 
Of having bled Tydides, thus aloud 
Accosted him : " Thou gallant son renowned 
Of noblest sire, already have I found 



Iliad, v. ] D10MEDE. 21 

Thy purple veins : my shaft Tydides bled, 

The spear now follows where the arrow led : " 

Then with gigantic arm the weapon threw ; 

It pierced the Grecian's buckler through and through : 

Threatening, it ranged toward the mail-clad breast, 

And dangled, harmless, in the chieftain's vest. 

" He dies !" cried Pandarus : " no god is near, 

To guard him now and turn aside my spear ; 

The champion dies." 

" Not so," the Greek replied, 
" Behold thy weapon, harmless, at my side ! 
Thou instrument of perjury, 1 now feel 
The death that lurks upon Tydides' steel." 
Then, springing up with all his length of frame 
Majestical, while Pallas fixed his aim 
Unerring, he the deathful weapon cast : 
Betwixt the Zeleian's eyes and nose it passed ; 
Cleaving the boastful tongue, it reappeared 
Below the chin and glittered midst his beard ! 
Down tumbling from the car, his life blood warms 
The earth that answers his resounding arms ! 
His limbs relaxed ; indignantly he sighed ; 
Kecoiled the coursers as the hero died. 

iEneas quits the car, and takes the field ; 
Coders the body with his glittering shield ; 
Walks round the dead and shakes his beaming lance, 
And dares the faltering victor to advance, 



1 Pandarus had broken the truce by wounding Menelaus. Iliad, 
line 146. 



22 DIOMEDE. [ Iliad, v. 

With gestures fierce and clamorous of tongue ; 

So crowds the lion o'er his threatened young : 

The Greeks look on amazed ! Tydides then 

Seized a vast rock (a load for two strong men); 

High poising this, the chief, gigantic grow r n, 

Terrific at iEneas cast the stone 

That smote him, hip and thigh, and broke the bone ; 

The flesh dividing, as it massive fell 

And crushed the thigh-ball in its oily cell. 

Prone on his knees, he totters to the plain, 

His arm supporting ; darkness seized his brain. 

And there the Dardan hero had been slain, 

But foam-bred Venus to her daring chief 

And darling son brought heavenly relief; 

Kemembering sweet Anchises and their loves, 

And all the joys of Ide's romantic groves ; 

Maternal round her son her arms she threw, 

And o'er his form her screening mantle drew, 

Protecting from the missiles of the fray : 

And then with power divine she bore the chief away. 

Meantime brave Sthenelus, with straightened rein, 
His coursers tied beyond the battle plain, 
Mindful of orders, and had seized the car 
And steeds that bore the chieftains to the war ; 
These leading off, with triumph in his eyes ; — 
He gave, in charge, Deipylus the prize, 
Him trusting soul-bound, bidding him convey 
Safe to the fleet the steeds beyond the fray ; 
Then, mounting quick his car, with utmost speed 
Tracked the red path of slaughtering Diomede : 






Iliad, v. ] VIOMEDE. 23 

He, raging after Venus fierce pursued, 

Cleaving aside the warring multitude, 

Well knowing whom he sought; no battling dame, 

No mail-clad Pallas with a shield on flame ; 

No devastator of beleaguered towns, 

Begrimed with slaughter and severe with frowns; 

But one to softer inclinations bent ; 

No friend to war nor yet with peace content. 

Attired she was in robes ambrosial, thin, 

Almost transparent of the charms within ; 

Celestial fingers wove the flowing veils : 

Through these the impetuous Greek the Queen assails ! 

Kips, with audacious spear, th' ambrosial lace, 

And tears the gauze-cloud from her pallid face, 

Wounding her hand, now overspread with stains 

That flow nectareous from immortal veins, 

Dew-like but rosy, capable to warm 

The rising blush and swell th' excited form ; 

Such blood, as from ethereal food doth fill 

Celestial veins, not such as wines distill 

From coarser substance : dwellers of the sky 

Partake no meat and therefore never die. 

As wounded Venus, shrieking with alarms, 
Let fall iEneas from her nerveless arms, 
Phoebus received him, and in clouds concealed 
From flying spears protected on the field. 
Then shouted Diomede in scoffing tone : 
" Away, thou goddess of the mystic zone : 
Skilled in love's strategies to circumvent; 
Careless if war or peace abide th' event : 



24 DIOMEDE. [ Iliad v. 

Go, fill with ardor the inconstant dame, 
But leave the warrior to a warrior's fame ; 
Else, if I meet thee on the battling plain, 
Thy father Jove shall seek thee midst the slain." 

Iris, the goddess of cerulean wings, 
Safe to her friends the wounded Venus brings, 
Her course directing towards the god of war 
Who sat retired and leaning on his car, 
Far to the left and safe from mortal spear, 
His steeds and car in thickest darkness vailed. 
Clasping his knees, her wrongs the Queen bewailed, 
Beseeching him to lend, with earnest cries, 
His air-bred steeds to bear her to the skies. 
" In pity save me, brother : lo ! I bleed, 
By the bold hand of ruthless Diomede ! 
Infuriate mortal ! who would dauntless meet 
The Sire of gods in fight, nor show retreat." 
Mars yields, obedient to his sister's prayer, 
His coursers, skilled to navigate the air ; 
She climbs the car, while Iris seized the reins, 
And dashed impetuous o'er the azure plains ; 
Scaling th' Olympian battlements where stands 
The Thunderer's throne, whence Jove the world com- 
mands. 

Thus having reached the Courts where gods abide, 
Quick footed Iris there the steeds untied, 
And gave them food ambrosial, — bounteous heaps ; 
While Venus clasps her mother's knees and weeps. 



Iliad, v. ] DIOMEDE. 25 

Dione took her daughter in her arms 
Solicitous, bewildered with alarms 
Maternal, and caressed her faded cheek. 
" Tell me, my child," she cried, " Yenus, speak ! 
Which of the gods hath done this wrong to thee 
As if thou wert an outlaw by decree ? " 
Smile-kindling Venus, goddess of the heart, 
Thus answered : " Diomede's remorseless dart 
Thus pierced me as I sought to bring away 
My son iEneas wounded in the fray. 
For not alone on Troy this war is made, 
But the bold Greeks the gods themselves invade." 
Then thus Dione : " Daughter, mine of Jove, 
Divine and queen of all the realms of love, 
With patience bear these ills, however great, 
And meet with fortitude the strokes of fate. 
Mortals afflict ; our wrongs to them constrain 
Th' ambitious race to pay with wrongs again. 
As once it was with unrelenting Mars, 
When taken prisoner in the Titan wars ; 
The victor chiefs detained him under-ground, 
Till thirteen moons the circling year unwound : 
There the remorseless god had known decay, 
And piece-meal pined until the latest day, 
Had not sweet Eribcea shown the spot 
To Hermes, and revealed his hapless lot : 
Th' accomplished burglar broke his prison bars, 
And found his fettered limbs all worn with scars ; 
Furtive released the captive, in disguise, 
And gave him back illustrious to the skies. 
4 



26 DIOMEDE. [ Iliad, v. 

Imperial Juno, in an evil hour, 

Felt the terrific force of human power, 

When fierce Alcides, from Apollo's bow, 

Anchored an arrow in her depths of snow. 

Gigantic Pluto learned how small the odds 

Between a daring mortal and the gods, 

When Hercules, exploring his domain, 

Assailed and struck him to the infernal plain ; 

Sore of the goading wound and burning smart, 

He sought Olympian courts, and Paeon's art 

Medicinal to heal him of the dart; 

Soon Paeon cured, for unto him is given 

Skill in the balmy pharmacy of heaven. 

Presumptuous Hercules ! With direful sting 

To wound heaven's queen and hell's eternal king, 

Eeckless if death attend th' audacious blow ; 

He dared the courts above and stormed the gates below. 

But Pallas urged impetuous Diomede, 

Mad for renown, to perpetrate this deed. 

Insensate ! him whose impious arms assail 

Th' Immortal gods, his friends must soon bewail : 

His life, that instant shortened of its date, 

Bears a black asterisk on the scroll of fate. 

Infatuate chieftain ! never shall his ear 

The lip-caresses of his children hear : 

Invincible to-day, to-morrow's strife, 

Implacable, may claim his forfeit life ! 

When the war ends, he never, safe returned, 

Shall feel the wild throbs of a heart that yearned, 

Through absent years to pulsate 'gainst his own ! 

Ah ! never shall iEgialea's zone 



Iliad, v. ] DIOHEDE. 27 

Be pillar to his phantom clasping arms, 

But strangers shall possess her weed-less charms ; 

Presaging visions shall distract her brain, 

Present fair shapes and take them back again, 

Till wild she wails her desolated house, 

Betrays her absent lord and takes a meaner spouse ! " * 

So saying, Dione held the wrist, compressed 

Betwixt her hands ; then wiped the palm and dressed 

With touch divine that healed the roseate gash, 

Juno enjoyed ; and Pallas, with a dash 

Of envy on her tongue, and jealous pride, 

Sarcastical (intending to deride 

Venus, and vex her sire), this pretty joke 

(Her blue eyes twinkling mischief ) glibly spoke : 

" Father ! allow me, not impertinent, 

To give my version of the sad event : 

Teaching some Grecian dame, with guileful tone, 

How to adjust her fascinating zone 

Most certainly to win the charming boy 

With whom she longed to make a voyage to Troy, 

Unwittingly she scraped her snowy hand 

Against the buckle that secured the band ! " 

Jove smiled ; and thus to her of golden locks : 

" Yen us, to Mars and Pallas leave the shocks 

Of jarring war; the dust of battle-fields 

Is not for thee, nor clang of sounding shields ; 

Thy feet to carpets give, thine ear to tones 

Of harps mellifluous, not to dying groans." 

1 This line is an interpolation, following the real history of Dio- 
mede, who, upon his return from the Trojan war, found his throne 
and bed occupied by an usurper. 



28 DIOMEDE. [ Iliad, v. 

Meantime, on earth Tydides raged the field 
And charged iEneas 'neath Apollo's shield ; 
He sought, well knowing that a god was near 
Guarding the Darden (but he felt no fear) 
To kill iEneas, and to bear away 
His radiant arms as prizes of the fray. 
Thrice in the breach he dashed his mighty frame ; 
And thrice the intervening shield of flame 
Repelled him ! reinvigorate, he strung 
His frame athletic and impetuous flung 
A fourth time desperate ! when, in thunder-tones, 
The god that lights the world and warms the zones 
Exclaimed : " Tydides ! reckless man, retire ; 
Cope not with gods, nor to their heights aspire : 
The winged inhabitants of boundless space 
Know not equality with man's frail race : 
Earth-born and blind, man plods his gloomy way ; 
Gods live eternal in the blaze of day." 
So Phoebus spoke. Tydides, pausing, slow 
And sullen — not as fearful of a foe 
But awed ; — a single pace gave way and stood 
Bewildered, but in dauntless attitude ! 

Then Phoebus, to the day-god's sacred shrine 
iEneas bore. Latona the divine, 
Skillful the balm to pour, the wound to dress, 
Assisted by the sylvan Archeress, 
Him healed immediate in their spacious fane, 
And lifted to his manly feet again. ' 

Then Phoebus raised upon the battle-field 
A phantom-feigned iEneas ! his the shield 



Iliad, v. ] DIOMEDE. 29 

And radiant arms, and his the graceful form, 
As seen that day amidst the battle-storm. 
Around the phantom fierce the combat broke, 
And furious fell the Greek and Trojan stroke; 
To battered bucklers clanging shields replied \ 
The uproar deepened as the warriors died. 

Apollo then appealed to gory Mars : 
" Town-devastating monster, God of wars ! 
Seest not yon mortal whose fierce wrath devours 
Whole Trojan hosts, and threatens heavenly powers ? 
Indomitable wretch; he hath the will 
To cope with Jove, and coping, strive to kill ; 
Meet him and drive him from the battle plain ; 
He strikes the deities, nor strikes in vain ; 
Yenus he wounded, charging as a god, 
And fed his lance on her celestial blood." 
Thus spoke Apollo, leaning on the skies, 
His foot on Ilium's huge Acropolis. 

This Mars aroused ; he left Scamander's bank, 
Stormed through the Trojan hosts from rank by rank; 
Kallied the broken columns as they swayed 
Irresolute, tumultuous and dismayed ; 
Huge Acamus, he seemed (the prince of Thrace) 
Mail-clad as he, the same in form and face : 
" Ye sons of Priam, favorite of the skies, 
Why stand ye here with terror in your eyes, 
While Greece approaches, slaughtering as she comes, 
To batter down your gates and sack your homes ? 
Face ye the raging storm ; iEneas save, 
Beloved as Hector and as Hector brave ; 



30 DIOMEDE. [ Iliad, v. 

Save the great Dardan as he prostrate lies, 
Nor leave him victim to Greek butcheries." 
Thus Mars ; now every face with ardor shines, 
And battle glows along the Trojan lines. 

Sarpedon, Jove-descended, silence broke, 
And thus severe to generous Hector spoke : 
" Say Hector, where thy courage ? once we know 
True courage warmed thee with its kindling glow : 
Gone ? is thy heart but ashes from the flame ? 
Is Hector's boasted prowess but a name ? 
Your kindred, family and self alone 
Were bulwarks quite sufficient for the town, 
Without the help of home or foreign friends ! 
I gaze as far as this long line extends, 
Searching thy boasted kindred : none appear ; 
They stand aloof oppressed with dastard fear, 
Trembling as curs when they the lion hear : 
We stay the battle, allies as we are, 
Who came in love of Priam to the war. 
In Lycia, far away beyond the sea, 
Comforts and boundless stores I quit for thee ; 
By Xanthus' eddying stream my wife and boy 
Stood weeping when I sailed away for Troy ; 
Yet still I energize the Lycian might ; 
Myself am not reluctant of the fight ; 
My honor and my life the only stake, 
I have no goods for conquering Greeks to take ; 
But ye, whose all, life, liberty and land 
Hang on a single thread, in terror stand ; 



Iliad, t. ] D10MEDE. 31 

Thyself but hovering on the battle's marge, 
Not stirring others to the needful charge : 
Great Trojan, I conjure thee to beware ; 
The Greeks, as with the meshes of a snare 
Well laid, with unexpected heave, may sweep 
Gates, forts and castles into one vast heap : 
Make Troy a hideous scar on nature's face, 
And leave no vestige of king Priam's race. 
Be ever vigilant, while frowns the night ; 
Be all enduring in the day's long fight ; 
See that each chief, ally and Trojan be 
Ever on duty, imitating thee; 
Let no small bickerings thy strength divide : 
Arouse thee ! Ilium's glory, Priam's pride." 

Sarpedon spoke : and Hector writhing heard ; 
He felt the truth of every biting word : 
His lips were silent, but his heart was loud ; 
And his tall plume appeared to kiss the cloud, 
High lifting, as he quit his gorgeous car, 
And rushed impetuous to renew the war. 
A flaming spear in either hand he waves ; 
Shouts through the throng and rallies all his braves ; 
Relumes the lamp of glory in each soul, 
Massing a living rampire of the whole, 
With face and steel defiant towards the foe : 
The Greeks stand, dauntless, but await the blow, 
Covered with dust : as when the ripened wheat 
Drops its light covering as the reapers beat, 
The rising chaff in circling drifts alight 
On laboring swains and clothe them all in white: 



32 DIOMEDE. [ Iliad, v. 

So the gray dust, in angry surges driven 
By rampant war-steeds to the vault of heaven, 
Falls back in whirling eddies on the Greeks : 
But now a frown obscures Apollo's cheeks, 
Whose dusky shadow banishes the light, 
The Greeks appalling with unnatural night ! 
While Mars, obedient to the god's desire, 
Storms through the Trojan hosts to keep their souls on 
fire. 

Apollo now the true iEneas shows 
Full armed; in youth his manly beauty glows. 
His warriors, late oppressed with pious grief, 
Now recognize, through tears, their living chief; 
The shouting hosts admire, but nothing ask ; 
Apollo calls them to a mightier task 
Implacable, — Mars shouts Avith stentor lungs, 
And Discord answers with a thousand tongues. 

And now the Ajaces in the battle line 
With Diomede and great Ulysses shine ; 
Firm stand the Greeks in phalanx densely joined 
Shoulder to shoulder, heart with heart combined ; 
Sullen as clouds Jove-piled, on mountain steeps 
All motionless, while yet the whirlwind sleeps, 
No blasts abroad to shake the steady base, 
Or sweep the anger from the storm-king's face; — ■ 
So stood the Greeks expectant, undismayed, 
While rampant Troy her gathering strength arrayed. 

Now Agamemnon, king of men, appears ; 
His voice inspires, as his presence cheers : 



Iliad, v. ] BIOMEDE. 33 

" Be steadfast, fellow warriors ; know, his date 
Of life is short who dreads the shafts of fate : 
The dastards, who in fear of danger fly, 
Are doubly doomed, for twice they have to die ; 
By terror, once, — for fear of death is death — 
Then by the sword that cuts the coward's breath. 
Fear not to die; fear not a Trojan's face, 
But fear th' eternal badges of disgrace ; 
Who dies a coward, forfeits life and fame ; 
Who dies a soldier, leaves his child a name." 

Thus urged the king ; but not in words alone 
The valor of the great commander shone ; 
Quick, as he spoke, he hurled his regal spear, 
And checked Deicoon in his high career. 
Deicoon, fighting foremost, famed afar 
As ever first when glory called to war, 
iEneas' friend, Pergasus' blooming boy, 
Beloved as Priam's royal sons in Troy; 
Him through the bowels, Agamemnon's blade 
Drove grinding, and dispatched him to the shade. 
His clanging armor uttered notes of woe 
Deep echoing as his spirit passed below. 

A splendid victory next iEneas wins ; 
His arm brings down the wealthy Pylian twins, 
Orsilochus and Crethon, warriors brave, 
Who traced their lineage to the Alphaean wave : 
Their father, Diocles, renowned in arms, 
And rich in palaces and spreading farms, 
5 



34 DIOMEDE. [ Iliad, v. 

In PhaBrse dwelt magnificent ; his boys 

Were skilled in all the arts that war employs ; 

Three generations left their princely blood 

Still pure and worthy their great grandsire flood ; 

Yaliant and thirsting for the world's applause, 

They joined the Greeks in Menelaus' cause : 

In sable ships to Ilium's coast they came, 

And found but death where they expected fame : 

As two young lions, trusting their own power, 

Quit the protective den in evil hour, 

Steal from the dam and leave the mountain's brow, 

To roam the valleys and the plains below, 

Voracious, seizing herds in fold and stall, 

Till by the shepherd's steel transfixed they fall ; 

So the brave boys, in overweening pride, 

Self-trusting, met superior force and died ; 

As two tall pines late felled upon the plain, 

In pride of stature lay the beauteous twain. 

This, Menelaus saw and quick drew nigh ; 
Rage in his heart and sorrow in his eye ; 
His armor blazed, as onward in advance 
God-like he strode and shook his ponderous lance. 
Deceitful Mars incited him with wrath, 
And lured him on to cross iEneas' path, 
That he might fall beneath the Dardan's arms, 
Now dreadful by Apollo's aid and fair Latona's charms. 
When brave Antilochus the danger knew, 
And saw the king thus menaced, quick he flew 
To front the fight, with intervening spear, 
And save the Spartan in his mad career; 



Iliad, v. ] DIOMEDE. 35 

Lest some unhappy stroke to Menelaus, 

Chief sufferer in the wrong, might blast the Grecian 

cause. 
While, face to face, iEneas and the king 
With lances lifted in the act to fling, 
Terrific onset threatened, Nestor's son 
Leaped to the Spartan's side ! the field is won : 
The Dardan prince, though dauntless, seeing two, 
Counted the odds and prudently withdrew. 
Then piously the chiefs the dead convey 
Quick to the Grecian fleet beyond the fray : 
Their loved associates weep the hapless twain : 
The chiefs return to front the fight again. 



Then first Pylaemenes the Spartan smote ; 
His lance transpierced the Paphlagonian's throat, 
As fierce he rode, defiant in his car, 
Dauntless and stormy as the God of war. 
Mydon, the fallen prince's charioteer, 
Wheeling to fly, there closed a sad career : 
The son of Nestor, with a broken stone, 
Full on his elbow struck the tender bone ; 
The slackened reins forsook his nerveless hand, 
And soiled their ivory trappings in the sand ; 
Then quick Antilochus, with flashing blade, 
Deep in his temple deathful gashes made ; 
Prone from his car, he fell upon his head, 
Sank to the shoulders in a sandy bed, 
And there, with legs erect, deep darkness found ; 
His plunging coursers dragged him to the ground; 



36 DIOMEDE. [ Iliad, v. 

Them to the fleet the victor drove, his eyes 
Flashing with triumph o'er the splendid prize. 

These Hector saw, and clamorous ran to meet 
And intercept, before they reached the fleet ; 
The serried hosts, arrayed in Troy's defense, 
Firm to the combat follow, dark and dense ; 
Mars leads them, brandishing his flaming spear, 
And fierce Bellona maddens his career : 
She stirs with fury, he with slaughter stirs; 
Where the fight thickens, there the God appears ; 
The Trojan prince is still his chief delight ; 
Where Hector combats, Mars is in the fight ; 
Before, beside, behind him, there the God 
Shook his red lance, and there protective trod ! 

Bold Diomede beheld, with dire dismay, 
The deities thus guiding Hector's way: 
As when a torrent, rushing on to meet 
The sea, impedes th' astounded traveler's feet, 
Awhile he gazes, then bewildered, turns ; 
So Diomede, as thus in words he burns : 
" How often, warriors, have we seen before 
The gallant Hector on our armies pour, 
Eesistless in the fight, unawed by fear, 
Terrific wielding the death-dealing spear ; 
But now some god consents to be his guide, 
Lo ! Mars is hovering by the hero's side ! 
Retire then, Greeks, before the fearful odds : 
Still watch the foe, but shun the assisting gods ! " 



Iliad, v. ] D10MEDE. 37 

On drove the Trojans while Tydides spoke, 
And Hector on the Greeks tempestuous broke. 
A double death his thirsty spear demands, 
And two great warriors perish at his hands, 
Menesthes and Archialus ; in war 
Well-skilled, and fighting from a single car, 
The comrades found together the same fate : 
This, stalwart Ajax saw, compassionate, 
And instant (for the chief was standing near), 
Amphius slew with his revengeful spear : 
Amphius, son of Selagus (the sire 
Kemained in Paeus) rich beyond desire, 
And blessed with all that opulence supplies: 
But glory filled the youth's dilating eyes ; 
At fate's command and fame's, he came to fight 
For Priam's sons, and met eternal night ; 
Through belt and bowels Ajax's weapon found 
Its way, and brought him thundering to the ground : 
Impetuous leaped the victor on his prey, 
And thought to bear his glittering arms away, 
While, from the foe a storm of lances pour ; 
Ajax and Ajax's shield receive the shower : 
With one foot on the body of the slain, 
The other planted in the gory plain, 
He drags away the spear, but leaves the spoils, 
For close around the Trojans spread their toils, 
Intent to hem him : darts innumerous play 
About his head and darker make the day : 
Thus pressed, he staggered back and sullenly gave 
way. 



38 BIOMEDE. [ Iliad, v. 

Now while the hosts laborious carnage wage, 
And man with man and gods with gods engage, 
Tlepolemus, of bold Alcides' race, 
Sarpedon met ; confronting, face to face, 
These Jove- descended heroes threatening stood : 
Urged by his destiny and haughty blood, 
Scoffing, Alcides' son the Lycian hailed : 
" Sarpedon, coward, say, what cause prevailed 
And brought to Ilium thy benighted host, 
Unskilled in arms, and only skilled to boast 
And falsely claim thee as the son of Jove ! 
Thou spurious offspring of terrestrial love ! 
How far art thou below the giant race, 
The Jove-begotten heroes of old days ! 
I claim to be of bold Alcides' line ; 
Alcmaena's beauteous face and charms divine 
Beguiled the Thunderer to an earth-born dame, 
And gave great Hercules to man and fame. 
With six small ships, Jove's lion-hearted boy 
Conquered Laomedon and ancient Troy ; 
Brought Ilium's shining temples to the ground, 
And spread a wilderness of ruin round ; 
But thou, diminutive and weak of power, 
Thy strength shall wither in an evil hour ; 
Tis not for Ilium's good, but Lycia's woe, 
Thou seekest war ; behold in me the foe 
Whose arm shall send thy sickening soul below." 

To him the Lycian hero mild replied : 
" Thy sire demolished Ilium in her pride, 



Iliad, v.] DIOMEDE. 39 

And beat her monarch in his manhood's prime; 
That faithless monarch suffered for his crime : 
He kept from Hercules the coursers due ; 
The wicked perish when the just pursue ; 
'Twas not the fault of Ilium but the king ; 
And faults disasters to their authors bring : 
Besides the treaty's despicable breach, 
The king outraged the decencies of speech : 
So thou, for scornful words, art doomed to feel 
The thirsty vengeance of my conquering steel ; 
Go ! mend thy language in the courts of Hell." 

So spoke Sarpedon : fierce the chiefs advance, 
And each dismissed, at once, his beaming lance : 
Piercing the Rhodian's neck, Sarpedon's showed 
Its glittering point beyond, and purple flowed ! 
Tlepolemus, tho' darkness veiled the skies, 
And shut the heavens forever from his eves, 
Left in Sarpedon's thigh his quivering spear, 
Fixed in the bone, and death came hovering near : 
But Jove, remembering sweet Lardane's x joy, 
Turned fate aside and saved their darling boy. 

The Lycians bore their god-like prince away, 
Quick from the fatal spot in sore dismay ; 
Forgetting, in their eagerness to save, 
To draw the weapon from the wounded brave, 
They left it dangling from the sickening wound, 
Trailing its ashen handle on the ground. 



1 Lardane, Sarpedon's mother. Maya's Myth. 24, p. 



40 DIOMEDE. [ Iliad, v. 

The Greeks then bore away their slaughtered chief; 
While fierce Ulysses, lost in ire and grief, 
Stood doubtful, pondering, whether to engage 
The Lycian hosts, and vent on them his rage, 
Or strive to take Sarpedon from his friends; 
But heaven directed his uncertain ends, 
Denied the illustrious victim to his fame, 
And Pallas turned him on inferior game : 
Impetuous then he charged the Lycian band, 
And seven bold champions fell beneath his hand ! 
And more had perished by Ulysses' wrath, 
But high-plumed Hector crossed his gory path 
To stay the havoc : him the Grecian saw 
Majestical and felt material awe. 
Sarpedon joyful saw the chief draw nigh : 
" Ah leave me not, sweet Hector, here to die," 
He said, "to grace a Grecian victory ; 
If fate denies to see my wife and boy, 
Give me to die within the walls of Troy, 
Since Priam's cause commanded me to come 
Fore-doomed no more to see my Lycian home." 
Impetuous Hector heard but heeded not ; 
Stern duty urged him instant from the spot ; 
Grim slaughter called ; he had no time to stay, 
To serve a friend or parley on the way, 
His arm was raised to conquer or to slay ; 
Onward he swept, terrific to engage, 
And numerous chieftains fell before his rage. 

Under the branches of a beechen tree, 
(The spot made sacred, father Jove, to thee) 



Iliad, v.] DIOMEDE. 41 

His weeping followers great Sarpedon laid ; 

God-like he rested in its ample shade ; 

When Pelagon extracted from his thigh 

The grinding spear ; dim grew the chieftain's eye, 

And darkness grouped deep shadows on his brain : 

Thoughtless and faint he languished on the plain, 

Till cooling breezes called his spirit back again. 

The struggling Argives, pressed by Hector's might 
With gods assisting, scorned ignoble flight, 
Nor yet essayed advancing ; firm combined 
The steady sinew and the undaunted mind, — 
Till told that Mars for Ilium fought that day ; 
Slow they recoiled, and sullenly gave way. 

Say, Muse, who fell in Hector's bloody path, 
While Mars was near to fire the Trojan's wrath ? 
First Teuthras yielded, of gigantic race, 
Orestes then, of famed equestrian grace ; 
iEtolian Trecus stained with blood the ground, 
And Helenus, of CEnops' line renowned ; 
GEnomaus next the power of Hector felt, 
And gay Oresbius, of the sparkling belt ; 
Oresbius dwelt amidst his boundless stores, 
Where smooth Cephissus laves her marshy shores : 
Where avarice makes the rich Bcetian blind, 
And wealthy princes rule a wealthy kind. 

Juno beholds this slaughter of the Greeks, 
And thus, concerned, to wise Minerva speaks : 
6 



42 DIOMEDE. [ Iliad, v. 

" Thou warrior- Virgin, born of thundering Jove ! 

In vain our pledges, vain our Grecian love, 

If bloody minded Mars must thus hold sway, 

And scourge the Greeks as he has scourged to-day ; 

Can Troy's proud temples e'er be overthrown, 

While Gods infest the field and guard the town ? 

The crisis calls for our united might, 

To curb this God or drive him from the fight." 

She spoke. Minerva's eyes with rising flame 
Blazed at the expressions of the Empress-dame. 
Then Juno dressed in trappings rich and gay, 
Her panting war steeds for the coming fray. 
Her own white hands the golden harness spread 
Impatiently, and forth the coursers led. 
Hebe adjusts the car with ready zeal, 
And mates each axle with its fellow wheel. 
Eight spokes out-shooting from the hub confined 
The brazen fellies, and their joints combined 
To fit the golden tire, a work divine ; 
The hubs of silver in the centre shine : 
The royal seat is swung by cords of gold, 
With silver braces fitted to uphold ; 
The shining pole extends its silver beam ; 
The golden breast-chains in their places gleam, 
Adjusted to the yoke; the front sustains 
Two golden fingers for the slackened reins : 
But Juno's self, impatient for the war, 
Yokes her own coursers to the flaming car. 

Meantime Jove's daughter on the Olympian floor 
In haste threw off the ambrosial robe she wore : 



Iliad, v. ] DIOMEDE. 43 

Virgin apparel, by her fingers wove, 
Fit for a princess in the courts of love. 
But not for warriors ; then the Goddess laced 
The Thunderer's glittering corslet to her waist, 
And armed complete to shake the battle-field. 
She seized and shouldered Jove's terrific shield ! 
Bordered around with serpents hissing death, 
Seeming alive, pestiferous of breath ; 
Discord, tumultuous on the surface raved ; 
Gigantic Prowess, gods and armies braved ; 
Pursuit, hot hastening, dashed across the plain, 
And Gorgon Fury held portentous reign. 
Her helm, sky-fashioned, in whose concave deep, 
All safely sheltered, garrisons might sleep, 
(The legions of an hundred leaguered towns) 
This helm she dons, whose graven surface frowns 
With rampant war, and all its horrors grim ; 
In clouds its towering plumes appear to swim, 
As fierce the Goddess mounts the flaming car, 
Majestic, brandishing the ponderous spear 
With which she sends whole armies to the grave, 
And desperate heroes that her anger brave. 
Imperial Juno hastening shakes the reins, 
And drives her coursers o'er the ethereal plains : 

The watchful Hours, beholding from afar 

The royal equipage, withdraw the bar 

That locks the gates of heaven ; wide open spring 

The golden shutters, thundering as they swing ; 

Quick through the court the flaming chariot rolled, 

And found the Thunderer on his throne of gold, 



44 DIOMEDE. [ Iliad, v. 

Calm seated, where Olympus rising proud 

His loftiest summit lifts above the cloud. 

There white-armed Juno stopped the radiant car, 

And called on Jove to check the god of war : 

" Canst thou survey," exclaimed the fervent Queen, 

" Yon sanguine field and not resent the scene ? 

Shall Mars still drench in Grecian gore the plain, 

And Juno's self be scorned, her prayers be vain ? 

Shall Venus and the Archer of the skies 

Survey the slaughter with delighted eyes ; 

Insatiate Mars to deeds of blood arouse, 

In special spite of Jove's neglected spouse ? 

Say, Sire, will it offend, if I should smite 

This lawless God, and drive him from the fight ? " 

To her, the Builder of the azure towers : 

" Thy wishes, beauteous queen, are ever ours : 

But let the war-skilled Goddess be thy guide, 

To curb the monster and afflict his pride." 

He said. The Empress shook the reins again, 
And drove her steeds along the azure plain : 
Swift to descend, the walling coursers fly, 
And bound impetuous through the middle sky ; 
Far as a pilot's eye the sea can trace 
When anxious gazing from the helm, a space 
So far the coursers plunge, from steep to steep, 
And neigh vociferous at every leap. 
When Troy they reached, by smooth Scamander's side, 
The Thunderer's Queen her panting steeds untied ; 
Keleased them instant from the yoke and bands, 
And stripped the harness with her own white hands ; 



Iliad, v. ] D10MEDE. 45 

Built cloud-concealing stalls, while Samois grew 
Ambrosial clover on his banks of dew. 

Swift as a dove divides the liquid way, 
The Queen and Goddess, ardent for the fray, 
Swept towards the Greeks, and mingled in the crowd 
That compassed Diomede ; great chieftains, proud 
And lion-hearted — dreadful in their might, 
As wild boars frothing from a recent fight. 
There Juno roused the Greeks with stentor-lungs, 
Loud as the roar of fifty brazen tongues : 
" Ye timid Argives, fit for Trojan game ! 
Still Greeks, but Greeks forgetful of your fame ; 
While yet Achilles fought, Achilles' frown 
Alone restrained the Trojans to the town ; 
Their bravest warriors, when he hovered near, 
Trembled and fled before his wrathful spear ; 
But careless now they lift the ponderous door, 
And swarm the field from Ilium to the shore ; 
Assert their prowess on the sanguine plain, 
And drive you back inglorious to the main, 
For shelter in your ships." Thus Juno speaks, 
And gives new courage to the faltering Greeks. 

Intent to move him to celestial blood, 
Minerva sought Tydides, as he stood 
Bathing, beside his car, his nerveless arm 
That languid hung, forsaken of its charm. 
Beneath the band that swung his ponderous shield 
Exuded streams of sweat that dripped the field, 



46 DIOMEDE. [ Iliad, v. 

Commingling with his blood : he lifts the band 

And wipes the clots off with his gory hand, 

When, with her arm across the chariot yoke 

Leaning, the Goddess thus the chief bespoke : 

" Tydeus, the bold — a man of little frame, 

But soul capacious of the loftiest aim, — 

Begat a son, with heart unlike the sire's, 

Of large dimensions but of small desires. 

Once when ambassador to Thebes he came, 

In search of glorious deeds to gild his name, 

He found Eteocles and all his court, 

Engrossed in feasts, and lost in groveling sport : 

The king neglected fitting audience: 

I bade thy sire forgive the grave offense, 

And join submissive in the royal feast ; 

But ardor glowed within his manly breast; 

He dared to conflict all the Cadmean youth, 

To test his prowess and admit his truth ; 

He foiled the bravest, or in arms or skill, 

In peace to wrestle or in war to kill : 

But thou, whom I commanded to the field, 

Protected by a Goddess and her shield, 

Thou falterest, weary of laborious war, 

And seekest shelter here beside thy car : 

Woman ! no son of Tydeus ! in thy veins 

No trace of thy progenitor remains ; 

Nought of CEnides is within thee hid, 

Thou grain of sand dropped from a pyramid." 

To her Tydides earnestly replies : 
" I know thee, Jove-born Goddess of the skies. 



Iliad, v. ] DIOMEDE. 47 

Not fear of Trojan steel hath hither driven 
The faltering Argives, but the fear of Heaven : 
Thy lips advised, with warning, not to fight 
The Gods in battle nor resist their might : 
Obedient, I have followed thy commands, 
And only Yenus bleeds by mortal hands : 
Her, you permitted to my random spear, 
And bade me wound, if she obtruded here ; 
But slaughtering Mars controls the field to-day, 
Therefore the Greeks, reluctant, shun the fray." 

Minerva then, her azure eyes on fire 
And Hashing with inexorable ire : 
Ci Fear not this Mars, Tydides ; nothing fear, 
Of earth or heaven, for Pallas will be near. 
Full on this God thy flaming chariot drive ; 
Perish the wretch that still on blood would thrive ! 
From side to side he shifts, as slaughter runs, 
Now favors Greece, now Greece for Ilium shuns. 
But late he promised Juno for the Greeks, 
This me he pledged, now, Troy's success he seeks. 
On Mars alone thy spear and eye be bent ; 
Arise, encounter, slay or circumvent ! 
Pass meaner foes, a God demands thy rage ; 
Him hand to hand and steel to steel engage ! " 
So saying, she plucked brave Sthenelus's arm ; 
He felt the God-head and obeyed the charm, 
And touched the earth immediate with his feet : 
She sprang impatient to the vacant seat ; 
The steeds seemed mindful of the precious freight ; 
The axle groaned beneath the enormous weight, 



48 DIOMEDE. [ Iliad, v. 

Jove's mail-clad daughter and iEtolia's king ! 

She seized the reins ; the silken lashes ring ; 

The steeds impetuous to the battle spring, 

And plunge at Mars ! That moment he had lain 

A bulky giant on the bloody plain, 

Huge Periphas, iEtolia's bravest man : 

Brisk at the God, Tydides' chariot ran, 

As Pallas vanished, in the quick disguise 

Of Pluto's helmet, from the war-God's eyes ! 

When Mars th' approach of Diomede descried, 

He left, un-spoiled, the giant where he died, 

And rushed to meet the daring Greek's advance ; 

Hurling terrific his uplifted lance, 

Foremost, he thought the impetuous chief to check; 

The spear passed whizzing o'er the courser's neck : 

But Pallas caught the weapon as it came, 

And bent it harmless, baffled of its aim ! 

In turn, audacious, charged iEtolia's king, 

And raised his weapon in the act to fling ; 

This, Pallas pointed, heavenly blood to taste, 

And plunged into the war-God's belted waist ; 

Plucked thence the barb and tore the gory wound ; 

While Mars, loud bellowing, shook the hills around ! 

Loud as a myriad warriors' tongues combined, 

The onset shouting, in the paean joined, 

The war-God roared ! the battle paused, amazed ! 

Appalled the Greek, appalled the Trojan gazed, 

As Mars redoubled his terrific cries, 

Boused the celestials and alarmed the skies. 

As when, mid sultry vapors that display 

Their shadowy hangings and obscure the day, 



Iliad, v. ] D10MEDE. 49 

Uncertain objects on the ether dim 

Cheat the short vision as they seem to swim ; 

So Mars appeared, in his ascent to heaven, 

On pillowy clouds by dark-winged breezes driven : 

While Diomede, victorious and supreme. 

Gazed, as if startled from a mystic dream ! 

Mars reached Olympus where the Thunderer reigns 
Omnipotent : thus woeful he complains, 
(The sacred ichor dripping from his side) : 
" Shall Mars be wounded and the gods deride ? 
Say, father, shall celestials still contrive 
Treason with mortals and on treason thrive ? 
Canst thou behold, without potential rage, 
Thy rampant daughter mortal combat wage 
Against the gods ? She bears her father's shield, 
And, side by side with Grecians, scours the field ! 
This hoyden Goddess rules the courts of Jove, 
Enjoys his counsels and commands his love : 
Her will he gratifies : no other god 
Olympus-dwelling disregards thy nod. 
She, haughty Diomede incites to war, 
And rides beside him in his glittering car ; 
Kindles his soul and keeps his shield on flame ; 
To combat gods is now his only aim ; 
First Yenus bled beneath his angry spear : 
On me, next fell the impetuous ravager 
And sacrilegious wounded : flight alone 
Could save from mortal rage thy god-born son. 
Had I remained, this vixen, with thy power, 
Had overwhelmed me in an evil hour 
7 



50 DIOMEBE. [ Iliad, v. 

With putrid carcasses and heaps of slain ; 

Perhaps had buried me upon the plain. 

Or left me crippled, with a single leg, 

To halt my way through heaven, — upon a peg." 

To him the Thunderer wrathful thus replied : 
" Cease thou to vex me in thy wounded pride : 
Deceitful traitor, carnage-loving knave, 
To strife devoted and to war a slave; 
Discord and slaughter feed thy hungry soul; 
I hate thee, whom not honor's laws control; 
Thou art thy mother, every inch of thee ; 
Contentious, peevish, querulous as she 
And obdurate : reprove her as I may, 
Imperious Juno still contends for sway. 
Thy fate is through thy mother, she conceived 
The plot to scourge thee, nor is vexed or grieved. 
But still you are my son, (from Juno came 
In prime of beauty when a gentler dame), 
And shall not suffer long as mortals do : 
But hadst thou sprung of other parents, know, 
Whatever deity had born thee, Hate 
Had long since forced thee from th' Olympian gate, 
Condemned forever through the world to roam, 
Or find a hotter clime than heaven thy home." 

To Paeon now the Thunderer nods his will, 
And leaves th' illustrious patient to his skill. 
Him the physician cured, with wondrous art : 
And made him whole in the afflicted part. 



Iliad, v. ] DIOMEDE. 51 

As quick as cream with fig juice, when compressed 
And stirred, coagulates, the wound was dressed ; 
As quick it healed ; no sign remained of gore ; 
Mars bloomed immortal as he bloomed before. 
Fair Hebe washed him of the battle mire, 
And clothed him gorgeous in a God's attire : 
Arrayed magnificent, in robes of state, 
But little less than Jove, he sat, elate : 
While mail-clad Pallas joyful reached the skies, 
And Juno blessed Olympus with her eyes. 



Note. — The Fifth has always appeared to me the most charming of the 
books of the Iliad. It is full of enchanting scenery and startling incidents. 
It gives a fair view of the chief heroes on both sides : Hector, iEneas, Sarpe- 
don, Pandarus and others of the Trojans, with Apollo, Mars and Venus 
assisting: Agamemnon, Menalaus, Dioniede, Ulysses, Idomeneus, Ajax and 
others of the Greeks, with Minerva and Juno aiding with earnest zeal, and 
actually mingling in the fight. 

In this book, Homer exalts Diomede above Achilles — perhaps unwit- 
tingly — for nowhere in the Iliad does Achilles perform such wonders. 
During the part of one day, Diomede is permitted to slay large numbers of 
the Trojan chiefs; to meet Pandarus and iEneas in unequal combat — to 
kill one and wound the other ; to assail and wound Venus ; and greatly to 
incommode Phoebus while protecting the Dardan prince ; and, to crown the 
glories of the day, as promised in the first lines of the book, he stands face 
to face, in terrific conflict with Mars, wounds him and sends him howling 
to Olympus. 

The startling feature of this book, is the wounding of the Gods. Homer 
has been assailed for this. I do not see the harm of it. We have no sympathy 
for Mars, and are rather pleased at his discomfiture. Even Jove denounces 
him. We are much concerned for Venus, but her wound is only a feminine 
wound — a scratch — and so there is little harm done. But all this raises 
the hero to an amazing height — thus delighting the reader — and, to yield 
this delight, is the chief office of poetry. Homer is the greatest of poets, 
simply because he has sagacity and daring enough to use, to the best advan- 
tage, the jewels he discovered in that great store-house of Fancy — the Celes- 
tial regions. 



52 DIOMEDE. [ Iliad, v. 

Not tlie least enchanting part of this book, is that which represents Juno 
and Pallas preparing to descend to aid the Greeks. The Queen harnesses 
her own coursers ; and with what bewitching zeal the ever-bright Hebe 
adjusts the celestial chariot ! We are permitted to be present at Minerva's 
toilet ; to see the fall of the embroidered drapery, and the energetic assump- 
tion of the Imperial armor. The slippered Princess in an instant springs 
into a gigantic warrior. We see Jupiter on the highest summit of Olym- 
pus, and the God of war embowered on the flowering banks of Scaman- 
der ; we follow Venus from the field of carnage to the Celestial realms, 
where the curtains of the heavenly chambers are drawn aside, and the 
privacy of the Gods revealed. We linger enchanted in the household of 
Jupiter, and listen, as if familiar, to the lamentations of a distressed mother 
over the misfortune of an outraged and bleeding child. We there see, even 
amongst the Gods, how the highest solemnity may be broken by the sur- 
passing witticism of a charming woman. Here too, we have the earliest 
example, in the speech of Dione, of that peculiar eloquence, which consists 
in stating a truth, and in the happy illustration of it, by historical or fabu- 
lous parallelisms. Venus is consoled, as her mother shows that Mars, Pluto, 
and even the white-bosomed Juno had suffered, in their turn, more grievous 
injuries at the hands of men. 

In this book we have the first view of JEneas, the character destined to 
become so immortal in the world's literature. The curious and classical 
reader will be enable to remark with what fidelity, building upon Homer's 
glimmering hints, Virgil has delineated this hero, from this first graphic 
sketch of him ; Piety and Prudence being his chief characteristics ; the two 
qualities which embrace the sublime of courage. 

If the reader has enjoyed the reading, half as much as the author has en- 
joyed the writing of this version of the 5th Iliad, then he is still my debtor : 
I have yet another advantage ; his enjoyment has been momentary ; mine 
has been long continued, making many a night glorious. 



